http://jurnal.iainpadangsidimpuan.ac.id/index.php/EEJ
Implementing Games Based Teaching Strategy in Teaching Speaking
Sokhira Linda Vinde Rambe
Institut Agama Islam Negeri (IAIN) Padangsidimpuan
e-mail: [email protected]
Abstract This study investigated types of games applied by the teachers in teaching speaking, described the problems faced by the teachers in implementing the games, and found out the solutions done to overcome the problems.
Then, this study was in a form of qualitative research applying descriptive method in analyzing the data. Observation and interview were conducted to collect the data related to the implementation of the games, and descriptive data analysis was used in analyzing them. This study found that there were some games used by the teachers in teaching speaking e.g find someone who, hot seat, whispering, interview, survey, finger up and down, memory chain, and fact or fake game. The problems also happened during speaking practice like the use of mother tongue due to lack of vocabulary, cheating, and passive students. Finally, the teachers did solutions to solve the problems like giving clear instructions, and setting the rules before playing the games.
Keywords: Games Based Teaching; Strategy; Speaking; Problem Solving; Hot Seat.
Abstrak Penelitian ini mengkaji jenis permainan yang diterapkan oleh guru dalam mengajar berbicara, menggambarkan masalah yang dihadapi oleh guru dalam menerapkan permainan, dan menemukan solusi yang dilakukan untuk mengatasi masalah tersebut. Kemudian, penelitian ini merupakan penelitian kualitatif dengan metode deskriptif dalam menganalisis data.
Observasi dan wawancara dilakukan untuk mengumpulkan data terkait dengan pelaksanaan permainan, dan analisis data deskriptif digunakan dalam menganalisisnya. Penelitian ini menemukan bahwa ada beberapa permainan yang digunakan oleh guru dalam mengajar berbicara seperti permainan find someone who, hot seat, whispering, interview, survey, finger up and down, memory chain, dan fact or fake. Masalah juga terjadi selama latihan berbicara seperti penggunaan bahasa ibu karena kurangnya kosakata, kecurangan dan siswa pasif. Guru juga melakukan solusi untuk memecahkan masalah seperti memberikan instruksi yang jelas, dan menetapkan aturan sebelum bermain game.
Kata Kunci: Pengajaran Berbasis Permainan; Strategi; Berbicara; Pemecahan Masalah; Kursi Panas.
E-ISSN : 2579-4043 P-ISSN: 2338-8781
Sokhira Linda/EEJ/Vol. 10 No. 01 June, 2022 55
INTRODUCTIONThe game is an activity carried out by one or more players with certain rules so that there are winners and losers with various objectives. Freeman and Munandar in Fitriyani (2017) define the game as an activity that helps children achieve complete development, both physically, intellectually, socially, morally, and emotionally.
Then, the game can be identified from its characteristics, (1) the existence of an explicit set of knowledge that must be heeded by the players, (2) the existence of a goal that must be achieved by the player or a task that must be carried out (Hidayat in Sugiarsih, 2010), (3) the game is motivated personally, because it gives a sense of satisfaction. (4) players are more engrossed in game activities (spontaneous in nature) than in their goals. (5) game activities can be nonliteral. (6) the game is free from externally imposed rules, and the existing rules can be motivated by the players. (7) the game requires active involvement on the part of the players (Pellegrini and Saracho, 1991)
The game is synonymous with excitement. Undoubtedly, the game can be a diversion or reliever feeling bored, and even stressed. By playing games, the brain becomes more relaxed and the feelings become more relaxed and happy. In addition to the above uses, games can also function as a medium that makes it easier for someone to learn something Sari (2018). These games are called educational games.
The word education comes from English, namely education which means teaching and learning.
According to Prensky (2012), educational games are games that are designed to learn, but can still offer play and fun. Educational games are a combination of educational content, learning principles, and games. Thus, it is no exaggeration when Hastuti (2013) suggests that the interaction between games and learning will provide a very important learning experience for children. Melero, et al. (2014) showed that game-based learning can have given a positive impact on student performance and motivation. This is very reasonable, because the game allows someone to learn something in a fun way.
In line with the opinion of Hastuti and Melero, et. al, Pujiadi (2014) suggests that educational games aim to provoke children's interest in learning about learning material while playing so that with a happy feeling. It is hoped that children can
Sokhira Linda/EEJ/Vol. 10 No. 01 June, 2022 56
more easily understand the subject matter presented. So, many difficult lesson if it is packaged in the form of a game will usually be easier to learn.Happiness is the main focus in this case (Walker, 2017). So it is not an exaggeration if it reveals that the research conducted year after year has shown that happiness is not the result of success but the key to success. Therefore, in the learning process, teachers should focus on the happiness of their students, not focus on pursuing success in achieving goals.
The general problem of learning process that has been the main problem, namely the learning process that is less interesting and fun. The learning process only focuses on delivering the subject matter without paying attention to the mood of the learner. This is what it makes the children's motivation to learn to decrease, then which will affect the learning outcomes.
Regarding the problems described in the previous paragraph, educational games can be a solution to increase children's motivation to learn (Ibrahim, 2017).
Educational games are one type of game that is not only entertaining but contains knowledge that is conveyed to its users. Educational games can be used to invite users to learn while playing. Through this learning process, the users can gain knowledge, so educational games are a breakthrough that can be used in the world of education. Apart from the fact that this type of game combines the sides of learning and playing, this type of game can also be used to attract the attention of children to learn.
In the context of teaching English at Language Development Center of IAIN Padangsidimpuan, English is one of the compulsory lessons that every student has to take at the first semester and this is called as English intensive program. This program has been running since 2015. In this program, English is taught to all students in all faculties in which the students learn English formally for one and a half hour a day from Monday to Friday. During the program, there have been problems as well as challenges that both students and teachers face in the classroom.
Talking about the problems or challenges that faced by the teachers have in teaching, there are some obstacles that tend to disturb the instructional process. First, there are some teachers who sometimes do not prepare the lessons before teaching. It means the teachers seldom and even never write their lesson plans during the teaching. That is mostly because the teachers don’t have enough time to prepare, the
Sokhira Linda/EEJ/Vol. 10 No. 01 June, 2022 57
teachers are lack of ideas to think of techniques to be used, the teachers are also lack of interaction and sharing the teaching with their colleagues. Then, there are some teachers who tend to use traditional methods of teaching, and that is due to their lack of interest in finding new ways or strategies. This case usually leads to the boredom atmosphere in the classroom.Moreover, the teachers usually face challenges in teaching students who have different level of ability in language. In other words, the teachers teach students who usually graduated from different types of schools such as Public High School, Vocational School, and Boarding School. Therefore, the teachers need extra effort to teach, to provide the instructional media, to find useful strategies and interesting games, and to encourage as well as to motivate students to become enthusiastic in learning. At the last, the teachers also tend to face unfriendly and less supporting teaching atmosphere, such as limited classroom facilities, bad weather, and crowded students in the classroom or out of classroom.
In relation to the challenges that students have during the learning, some cases will be elaborated here. Students’ lack of motivations and laziness are the dominant problems that always happen in the English intensive program. Then, some students tend to come late and even leave the classroom during the lesson. That is absolutely because the students have to learn English intensively one and a half hour a day in a year. Moreover, some students who are categorized as lower ability students tend to experience lots of difficulties in following the materials timeline and going with the massive learning program. Furthermore, monotonous and traditional teaching and learning methods normally make students bored and less interest in learning English so that causes failure and absence during the lecture.
To solve the obstacles described above, there have been lots of actions done by the Language Development Center. One of the strategies done by the teachers is by implementing games in teaching English specifically teaching speaking. Moreover, the teachers are assigned to record their teaching games or ways and share the games to their colleagues so that every teacher can apply it in their classroom. It means, the teachers who are lack of ideas or do not have enough time to share with their colleagues will have a chance to implement teaching methods or games that are published by other teachers.
Sokhira Linda/EEJ/Vol. 10 No. 01 June, 2022 58
However, eventhough games have been implemented, not all teachers could create creative games in teaching. This makes the classroom less interesting for students and of course boring for them. Based on the above description, there is a need to conduct research about the use of games based strategy in teaching speaking, including investigating types of games, problems faced and solution done by the teachers.METHOD
The research method chosen was descriptive analysis. The analytical descriptive method according to Sugiyono (2013) is a method that serves to describe or provide an overview of the object under study through data or samples that have been collected as they are. The objects studied were the implementation of several games in teaching speaking, problems faced and solution done to overcome the problems.
Data collection techniques used in this study were;
1. Observation
Observation is an action that includes focusing on an object by using all the senses (Arikunto, 1998). In this study, the researcher used structured and non- participant observation. Structured observations are observations that are prepared about what will be observed in the form of observation signs even though they are simple and developed in the field. While non-participant observation, the researcher is not involved in the activity, but only as an observer. Observation was used to collect the data related to types of games implemented by the teachers and how they are implemented.
2. Interview
Interview is a meeting of two people to exchange information and ideas through question and answer, so that meaning can be constructed in a certain topic (Sugiyono, 2013). This study used a semi-structured interview technique. This interview is included in the in-depth interview category, which is carried out more freely and openly by asking for opinions and ideas from informants. Informants involved in this study were five English teachers at Language Development Center of IAIN Padangsidimpuan.
Sokhira Linda/EEJ/Vol. 10 No. 01 June, 2022 59
Data processing and analysis in this study used descriptive analysis which was conducted to identify the characteristics of types of games in teaching speaking and how they are implemented. The data analysis begins by examining all available data from various sources, namely through observation and interviews. Activities in analyzing qualitative data include 1) data reduction, data presentation, and drawing conclusions.RESULT AND DISCUSSION
This part of article discusses two main focuses including types of games implemented in teaching speaking, problems faced and solutions done by the teachers in applying the games.
A. Types of Games Implemented by the Teachers in Teaching Speaking
To get the data related to this discussion, observation was conducted to five teachers in teaching English at Language Development Center of IAIN Padangsidimpuan. Here are some games found from the observation in the classroom.
1. Fact or Fake game
Related to the first game i.e. fact or fact, the teacher grouped the students into pairs, one of the students described herself to her partner about family members, the partner guessed whether the description was fact or fake.
For example,
SS1 : I have three brothers SS2 : it’s a fake
2. Finger Down
Then, related to the second game i.e. finger down, the teacher put the students into pairs, one of the students gave some instruction and the second students did the instruction.
For example,
SS1 : Finger down if you are a student of IAIN Padangsidimpuan SS2 : (the pair put the finger down) because the sentences is true.
3. Find Someone Who game
The third game was find someone who. Related to this game, the teacher asked the students to list some sentences (about family members) and asked them to walk
Sokhira Linda/EEJ/Vol. 10 No. 01 June, 2022 60
around the class to find someone who are true based on the list, after finding someone, the students wrote the report on the list. Here is the example of list.Table 1
List of sentences in find someone who game
No Sentences Name Following questions/answers 1 Have a sister
(do you have a sister?)
... Where does she live?
……….
2 Have three brothers … How old are they?
……….
3 Live in Padangsidimpuan … Where is it?
……….
4 Like singing … Why do you like singing?
……….
5 Father’s job is farmer … How old is your father?
……….
For example,
SS1 : do you have a sister?
SS2 : yes
SS1 : where does she live?
SS2 : She lives in Medan 4. Describing Game
Related to this game, the teachers grouped the students into four to five members. Every member in the group provided some describing sentences, and the other guessed the activity suitable with the descriptions.
For example,
SS1 : I take the detergent. I put the clothes into the machine. I put the water in SS : (other members) do you do laundry?
SS1 : Yes.
5. Hot Seat game
Regarding this game, the teacher asked the students to sit in a big circle. One of the students sit in the middle (hot seat) . The other students asked questions (yes/no questions) related to the topic (jobs) and the student who sit on the hot seat answered yes or no. Finally, after five questions, one of the students guessed the sentences.
Sokhira Linda/EEJ/Vol. 10 No. 01 June, 2022 61
For example,SS1 : do you work in a field?
SS (hot seat) : Yes
SS2 : do you bring a tool to work?
SS (hot seat) : Yes
SS3 : do you work with machine?
SS (hot seat) : Yes sometimes
SS4 : do you plant something?
SS (hot seat) : Yes
SS5 : are you a farmer?
SS (hot seat) : Yes 6. Memory chain game
In this game, the students sit in a big circle. The first student mentioned a sentence about certain topics (future holiday using going to). The next student repeated the sentences and added another word or sentence to the previous one.
For example,
SS1 : next week, I am going to go to beach.
SS2 : next week, I am going to go to a beach, and I am going to swim in the sea
SS3 : next week, I am going to go to a beach, I am going to swim in the sea, and I am going to drink coconut water,...
7. Running dictation game
In this game, the students worked in groups of four to five members. The teacher provided list of sentences to be dictated. The list of sentences was put on the wall or outside of the classroom. One of the group members from all groups run to the board, read the sentences, and dictated the sentences to the other members in the similar group. Other group members wrote on the notebook. Then, another group member run to the board (different person) to read and dictated the second sentences to the members of the group. It happened until all sentences were dictated.
8. Survey game
Related to this game, every student was asked to write a list of sentences related to the topic (family members). Each student walked around the classroom and
Sokhira Linda/EEJ/Vol. 10 No. 01 June, 2022 62
asked their friends about the sentences in the list (yes/no questions), wrote the names of students who responded yes. Here is the example of list.Table 2
List of sentences in survey game
No Sentences SS1
(name)
SS2 (name)
SS3 (name)
SS4 (name) 1 Have a sister ...
2 Have three brothers … 3 Live in
Padangsidimpuan
…
4 Like singing …
5 Father’s job is farmer …
For example,
SS : do you have a sister?
SS1 : yes
SS : (write the names, and ask three other students who say yes) 9. Interview game
In this game, the students were asked to interview other students (2 or 3 students) about the topic (family members). All students walked around the class and interviewed whoever they wanted. The students had to write the answers on their notebooks. Here is the example of list of questions to be asked.
Table 3
List of questions in interview game
No Questions SS1 SS2 SS3 SS4
1 What is your sister’s name?
...
2 How many brothers do you have?
…
3 What’s your father’s job?
…
4 What is your mother’s job?
…
5 How old is your sister?
…
Sokhira Linda/EEJ/Vol. 10 No. 01 June, 2022 63
10. Whispering gameIn this game, the students worked in a group with four to five members. All groups stood in a raw. The front student faced the teacher and the others faced back the teacher. The teacher showed a sentence in a piece of paper. The first student or front student looked at and read the sentence. Then, they whispered it to the second student, the second student whispered to the third student and so on. The last student wrote the sentence on the paper and gave it to the teacher. Here is the figure for the whispering game.
Figure 1
Scheme for whispering game Teacher
Students 1 Students 1 Students 1 Students 1 Students 2 Students 2 Students 2 Students 2 Students 3 Students 3 Students 3 Students 3 Students 4 Students 4 Students 4 Students 4
B. Problems Faced and Solutions done by the Teachers in Applying Games in Teaching Speaking
There were some problems faced by the teachers in applying games in teaching speaking. Five English teachers at Language Development Center were interviewed about the problems happened during the speaking practices. The problems found are students’ lack of vocabulary, unsupportive action, less understanding to the instruction, and making grammatical mistakes.
1. Students have lack of vocabulary
The interviewed teachers told that some students did not have enough vocabulary to practice speaking. In that case, they tended to speak in Bahasa even mother tongue. In other cases, due to the lack of vocabulary, the students tended to be silent and kept silent during speaking practices.
Sokhira Linda/EEJ/Vol. 10 No. 01 June, 2022 64
2. Students act unsupportivelyThe teacher also said that some of the students acted unsupportively to the games in practicing speaking. The students did cheating and did not follow the rules given by the teachers. It happened because they wanted to win the game and finished it quickly.
3. Students have less understanding to instruction
Related to this problem, there were also some students who did not pay attention to the instruction given by the teachers. So, they could not do the games effectively. In other case, some students also sometimes misunderstood the game instruction and it make the teachers had to repeat the instruction more often and of course add the time allocated to the games.
4. The students have lack of motivation to play the games
Two of the respondents also mentioned that when they applied similar games every meeting, the students had less interest and motivation in practicing speaking.
Therefore, the teacher had to apply various games in every speaking practice to create new atmosphere and new interest to the lesson.
5. Students make grammatical mistakes
Based on the teachers’ answers from the interview, students often made grammatical mistakes during speaking practice, and it made them sometime kept silent and talked slowly.
C. Solutions Done to Solve the Problems Related to the Implementation of Games in Teaching Speaking
Regarding the problems that have been stated in the previous part, there was also an interview given to teachers to know solutions that the teachers often did to overcome the problems. The solutions are:
1. Giving clear instructions
The teachers said that giving instructions is one of important aspect that needs to be taken into account in implementing games in teaching. There were some principles of giving instruction i.e. giving clear instruction, concise instruction, and checking the instruction to make sure students’ understanding.
2. Setting the rules before playing the games
Sokhira Linda/EEJ/Vol. 10 No. 01 June, 2022 65
Some of the teachers as respondents said that to avoid some cheating and unsupportive students, the teachers had to set the rules. Even, punishment had to be given when the students did not obey the rules.3. Monitoring the speaking activity
When the students did mingling activity (walk around the class and do interview or find someone who), the teachers had to monitor them closely and intensively. Students tended to speak in Bahasa or even mother tongue if they did not know certain vocabulary in English. Therefore, monitoring was needed to make sure the students did the speaking practice actively and communicatively.
Related to the discussion in this study, it is seen that the games applied by the teachers are interesting and various. This is assumed that when the teachers applied monotonous game, the students tended to get bored in practicing speaking.
Therefore, there is a need to create creative games and make use the games to become interesting for the students. This is in line with Rambe’s (2019) opinion arguing that creativity is really needed in teaching English specifically in practicing speaking to make the classroom alive and interesting.
It is also known that games do not only give advantages for teaching and learning success but there are also some problems that happen. In fact, some students sometimes do not understand the instructions of the games, and it makes the games can not be implemented effectively. Then, some students also sometimes do cheating while playing the games because they want to win the games quickly. In addition, the use of mother tongue and passive students also two other problems that occur in practicing English speaking. This argument is similar to Putri’s (2020) finding stating that passive students are the main problems in teaching speaking, to deal with it, the teachers suggested the students to train themselves individually like talking in front of the mirror as often as possible.
To overcome the problems above, it is known that teachers had done several actions like giving clear and repeated as well as checked instruction, monitoring the students speaking practices, and setting the rules of games before playing them in learning process. This is in line with Savitri’s (2013) finding in her research telling that giving instruction in using games was essential as it determined whether the students understood how to play the game or not. The instruction should be given clearly.
Sometimes explaining the rules in students’ native language was necessary when they
Sokhira Linda/EEJ/Vol. 10 No. 01 June, 2022 66
did not understand. Then, creativity of teachers is also needed to overcome those problems, like what Rambe, et al (2021) said in their article stating that teachers’creativity is a key to solve students’ learning problems like unmotivated students, less interest. and boring lesson.
CONCLUSION
This study concludes that there were some games used by the teachers in teaching speaking like find someone who, hot seat, whispering, interview, survey, finger up and down, memory chain, and fact or fake game. The problems also happened during speaking practice like the use of mother tongue due to lack of vocabulary, cheating and passive students. The teachers had done solutions to solve the problems like giving clear instructions, monitoring the students speaking activities and setting the rules before playing the games.
This study is very limited in terms of students’ perceptions toward the implementation of the games in teaching English speaking. Thus, it is really suggested to other researchers who want to conduct research with this topic to add more discussions about students’ perception to its implementation. Moreover, the theories used in this study is also limited, so there is a need to add more related theories about kinds of games applied in teaching English and speaking specifically.
REFERENCES
Arikunto, Suharsimi. 1998. Prosedur Penelitian Suatu pendekatan Praktek.
Jakarta: Rineka Cipta.
Fitriyani,.F,.N. 2017. The Implementation of Game Based Learning for Children. Jurnal Pendidikan Anak Usia Dini Vol. 2 No. 1, Januari - Juni 2017.
http://jurnal.uinbanten.ac.id/index.php/assibyan/article/download /1332/1054
Hastuti, W. 2013. Using Games To Improve Classroom Interaction In The English Teaching Learning Process At Grade Iv Of Sdn Puren In The Academic Year Of 2013/2014. Published Paper.
http://eprints.uny.ac.id/25752/1/Winda%20Hastuti%2009202241048
Sokhira Linda/EEJ/Vol. 10 No. 01 June, 2022 67 Ibrahim, A. 2017. Advantages of Using Language Games in Teaching English as a Foreign Language in Sudan Basic Schools. American Scientific Research Journal for Engineering, Technology, and Sciences (ASRJETS)
(2017) Volume 37, No 1, pp 140-150
https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/235050435.pdf
Melero, J., Leo, H., & Davinia. 2014. A Model for the Design of Puzzle-Based Games Including Virtual and Physical Objects. International Forum of Educational Technology & Society Vol 17 (3):192—207.
https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1039040
Pellegrini dan Saracho, 1991. Pengertian Permainan.
http://4loveandlift.blogspot.com
Prensky, M. 2012. From Digital Natives to Digital Wisdom. New York.
Pujiadi. 2014. Pengembangan Game Edukasi untuk Media Bantu Pembelajaran. http://lpmpjateng.go.id
Putri, Eka. 2020. The Problems And Solutions Of Passive English Students Toward Their English Speaking Skill (A Study At Department Of English Language Education, Uin Ar-Raniry). Published thesis.
https://repository.ar-
raniry.ac.id/id/eprint/13824/1/Eka%20Putri%2C%20160203018%2C
%20FTK%2C%20PBI%2C%20085371160415.pdf
Rambe, S,.L,.V. 2019. Fostering Lecturers’ Teaching Creativity through Games.
English Education: English Journal for Teaching and Learning 7 (01), 95- 112.https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl
=id&user=EcQPNdYAAAAJ&citation_for_view=EcQPNdYAAAAJ:zY LM7Y9cAGgC
Rambe, S,.L,.V. et al. 2021. Teachers’ Teaching Creativity at Language Development Center of IAIN Padangsidimpuan. Journal of Language Teaching and Learning, Linguistics and Literature Volume 9, Number 2,
December 2021 pp. 133 – 148.
https://ejournal.iainpalopo.ac.id/index.php/ideas/article/view/229 7
Sari, Ensa Puspita. 2018. “The Use of Games as a Strategy to Teach English to
Young Learners.” Research Paper.
https://repository.usd.ac.id/23936/2/131214087_full.pdf
Savitri, A., S. 2013. The Use Of Language Games To Improve The Students’
Speaking Ability Of Class Vii A Of Smp Ma’arif Terpadu Muntilan In
Sokhira Linda/EEJ/Vol. 10 No. 01 June, 2022 68 The Academic Year Of 2012/2013. Published thesis.
https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/33516804.pdf
Sudartini, Siti. 2005. Teaching English through Games for Children (Published paper:http://staffnew.uny.ac.id/upload/132309873/pengabdian/teac hingenglish-through-games-children.pdf
Sugiarsih, S, 2010. Permainan Bahasa dalam Pembelajaran Bahasa Indonesia di
Sekolah Dasar.
http://staff.uny.ac.id/sites/default/files/pengabdian/septia.../ppm- permainanbahasa.doc
Sugiyono, 2013. Metode Penelitian Kuantitatif, Kualitatif, dan R&D. Bandung:
Alfabeta
Walker, T. D. 2017. Teach Like Finland Mengejar Seperti Finlandia. 33 Strategi
Sederhana untuk Kelas yang Menyenangkan (Fransiskus Wicakso,
